ScaleMaster 2 released for macOS – Practice Environment and Reference

Rochester, New York – RoGame Software today is pleased to announce the release of ScaleMaster 2 (v1.0.3), a fantastic new upgrade to the venerable ScaleMaster app for macOS. Version 1.0.3 has been re-designed from the ground up with a very modern interface and includes a lot of new functionality like scale documents, much improved MIDI support, scrollable instruments, full screen mode and much more.

ScaleMaster 2 lists over 200 scale types in all keys and shows them parallel in music notation and the selected virtual instrument. Scales are listed by name in a master list that also contains additional information like type. The notation display is automatically updated with each new selection. Light text coloring as well as the scale type indicator help easily distinguishing between different types.

The most important new addition to ScaleMaster 2 are exercises, because playing along with an exercise is sometimes more useful than merely looking up a scale for reference. To provide a useful working environment for reference, as well as exercise related tasks, ScaleMaster 2 introduces scale documents. Each document stands for a specific scale, instrument and exercise – all of which can of course be changed at will. This makes an easy task of going back and forth between different scales and you can share them with a friend or student. And switching between reference and exercise modes just takes a click or key stroke.

As before, scales can still be played back in reference mode. In exercise mode however, there is an optional count-in; the playback speed can be controlled and then there is the new exercise generation interface. It allows the creation of of exercises based on range, initial direction and scale pattern. Exercises also offer a reverse option so any pattern created can be played bi-directionally. Having a reverse mode is incredibly useful for practicing because getting a scale under one’s fingers in one direction may take some effort. Tagging on the reverse a bit later then only takes a mouse click.

For improvising musicians the relationship between chords and scales is of major importance. This is an area where ScaleMaster 2 can be of great assistance to freshen up one’s vocabulary and maybe introduce a couple of more colorful and less common scale choices. The main tool for this is chord matching. ScaleMaster lists over 40 of the most common chord forms which can be selected to filter out scales that don’t match all chord tones. The resulting list of available scales for a particular chord can then be compared and played to get an idea of their overall flavor.

ScaleMaster 2 natively supports 9 different instruments which are implemented as interactive, virtual instruments. All instruments can be shifted into different positions and are a lot of fun just to play around with. They are realized in fantastic detail with position markers, fret indicators, octave indicators on the piano instrument and discreet note name overlays to indicate fingering options and note locations. The piano instrument features a full set of 88 keys and all string instruments have 24 frets. There are several options to position necks or keyboard and note highlighting is done in a very understated manner.

ScaleMaster 2 also offers several new MIDI-related features. It supports all class-compliant MIDI controllers and implements virtual MIDI. That way it is possible to play ScaleMaster’s instruments via MIDI controller, even record small parts as exercise and use a properly configured DAW for playback if so desired.

Scales are elementary to all musicianship. They provide flavor and harmonic structure, but are at the same time fairly complex. Designed for the beginning musician as well as the professional, ScaleMaster has become a staple app for many musicians as an excellent tool towards advancement in theory and scales in particular. ScaleMaster 2 adds improvements in almost every aspect and makes an easy task of looking up a scale in seconds, getting a taste of its flavor and practicing it.

Pricing and Availability:
ScaleMaster 2 (v1.0.3) costs $19.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the education and music categories. Educational discounts are available. For more information, please contact Arthur Roolfs.

RoGame Software is located in Rochester, New York and provides quality software for iOS and Mac OS X systems. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2017 RoGame Software / All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac OS X, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.